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The US Air Force has opted to expand the operation of the autonomous platform for use in the SkyRange fleet.
Northrop Grumman has received a task order from the US Department of Defense Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) for the commencement of engineering and planning work to reconfigure four US Air Force EQ-4 Block 20 Global Hawk aircraft.
Once reconfigured at Northrop Grumman’s Grand Sky facility near Grand Forks, North Dakota, the four high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft will join the SkyRange fleet of testing vehicles.
The SkyRange program aims to equip the aircraft with sensors to demonstrate an alternative data collection support system to support testing US hypersonic systems,” Jane Bishop, vice president and general manager, global surveillance, Northrop Grumman, said.
“The SkyRange program exploits the intrinsic strengths of Global Hawk – altitude, persistence, payload, and flexibility.
“Grand Sky’s high-tech facility with a modern 35,000 square foot hangar provides the ideal location for engineering modifications to Global Hawk in support of the SkyRange program.”
Global Hawk is billed as the premier autonomous, high-altitude, long-endurance ISR platform for the US Air Force and global partners.
Global Hawk is receiving ground station, cyber resiliency and mission planning upgrades to ensure it can deliver intelligence to Combatant Commanders and perform new missions without endangering personnel.
This comes just weeks after the USAF awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman for the provision of dynamic inflight rerouting for the RQ-4B Global Hawk variant.
The software update, referred to as Dynamic Mission Operations (DYNAMO), aims to enhance the aircraft’s ability to provide critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data to geographic combatant commanders.
The DYNAMO capability is tipped to enable operators to respond to changing real-world conditions during a mission through the in-flight rerouting capability.
The update is scheduled to be fielded in 2023.
[Related: Northrop Grumman to deliver software upgrade for Global Hawk]
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